Special Commission on the Future of the NY State Courts

At the request of New York State Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye, Davis Polk partner Carey Dunne served as chair of the Special Commission on the Future of the New York State Courts, a body created in 2006 to recommend reforms to the New York State court system. A team of lawyers from Davis Polk served as counsel to the Commission, which was comprised of judges, legislators, academics, business leaders and lawyers from around the state. In the first seven months following the establishment of the Commission, the Davis Polk team studied the voluminous records of past court reform efforts in New York; gathered and analyzed data on court filings and productivity; conducted a financial analysis of the impact of potential reforms; met with judges, legislators, politicians, business leaders, bar associations and others from around the state; and oversaw the deliberations of the Commission.

This first phase of the Commission's work culminated in the submission of a 170-page report to Chief Judge Kaye in February 2008, recommending a dramatic restructuring and consolidation of the various trial courts. The recommendations were also embodied in a constitutional amendment, drafted by the Davis Polk team, that was submitted to the New York State Legislature by former Governor Eliot Spitzer.

In the second phase of its work, the Commission turned its attention to evaluating and proposing reforms for New York's 1,250 town and village justice courts. Over the summer and fall of 2007, the Davis Polk team visited town and village courts throughout the state to gather information on the local justice system from a wide range of perspectives. In September 2008, the Commission delivered to Chief Judge Kaye a nearly 300-page report detailing its findings and proposed reforms for the Justice Courts. In this second report, the Commission identified four broad categories of findings: the organization of the Justice Courts; the qualifications of the Justices; facilities and resources; and the role of fines and funding in the courts. In addition, the Commission advanced specific proposals for reform, accompanied by model legislation that could be used to implement these proposals.


For more information about the work of the Commission or to access the two reports, please visit the Commission's website at www.nycourtreform.org.

Family Court Reform Task Force

Continuing our commitment to court reform, in 2010 we worked on a project with the Family Court Reform Task Force to assess possible reforms to the Family Court system and draft a report on the family court system.

New York State Justice Task Force

Since 2009, we have also served as Counsel to the New York Justice Task Force, a permanent New York State task force designed to examine the causes of wrongful convictions and recommend reforms. For more information on the New York State Justice Task Force, please see the more in-depth description in the Criminal Defense/Wrongful Conviction section of our website and visit the New York State Justice Task Force website at www.nyjusticetaskforce.com.